Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor proving to his teammates - and to nation - that he's a star

Wednesday

Sep 29, 2010 at 12:01 AMSep 29, 2010 at 3:22 AM

Ohio State junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top-ranked prospect in his high school class, still had to win over his teammates.

John Supinie

Ohio State junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the nation's top-ranked prospect in his high school class, still had to win over his teammates.

A 6-foot-6, 233-pounder from Jeannette, Pa., who gobbles up big chunks of yardage with each long stride, Pryor improved his passing fundamentals and understanding of the game. That was easy to see as No. 2 Ohio State rolled over four non-conference foes, including No. 12 Miami. Just as important, Pryor earned respect in the locker room because of willingness to work and learn.

"A freshman coming in as the No. 1 recruit, people think you're going to come into the program and run stuff,'' Pryor said. "That's not what I was trying to do. I was trying to learn, and I was really competitive. A lot of stuff came out as cocky and arrogant.

"I was sure of myself. I have the utmost confidence of myself. That's the way I was taught. They didn't see my hard work until this year.''

When Ohio State (4-0) plays at Illinois (2-1) in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams Saturday (11 a.m., Big Ten Network), Pryor is a leading candidate to win the Heisman Trophy on the Big Ten's best shot at winning a national championship.

In a three blowouts and a convincing win over the Hurricanes, Pryor enjoyed a record-setting non-conference spree. After setting a school record with 16 consecutive completions against Ohio, Pryor threw four touchdown passes, rushed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass in the 73-20 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday to earn the Big Ten's offensive player of the week.

He ranks sixth in the Big Ten and 13th nationally in passing efficiency by completing 66 percent of his passes for 939 yards with a league-high 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Pryor stands third in the Big Ten by averaging 302 total yards. Sounds like he's ready for conference play.

"I'm ready for everything,'' Pryor said.

Quarterbacking the Buckeyes is called the hardest job in the state of Ohio, but Pryor is now getting rave reviews. Everyone remembers the blemish -- a 26-18 loss to Purdue last season -- but Pryor is 23-3 as a starter, including a 26-17 victory over Oregon in the Rose Bowl last season when he set a career high with 266 yards passing.

Somewhere in the process, Pryor realized that his enormous talent could only take him so far.

"It's a huge difference from when he first got here to now, his maturity and how he became a leader,'' Ohio State safety Tyler Moeller told the Miami Herald. "When he first got here I don't think too many people liked him. He was kind of a punk. But now I have the utmost respect for him.''

Even with 10 starters back on offense and a defense that already created 13 turnovers to help the Buckeyes rank second nationally in turnover margin (plus-2.5), a key for Ohio State is leadership, "most especially from the quarterback position,'' Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

"When Terrelle was a young guy, he was thrust into an older huddle,'' Tressel said. "Last year, he had a good handle on what we were doing. He was trying to get a handle on what the defenses were doing. As a veteran guy, you hope he has a decent handle on what we're doing and what they're doing, and also be a consistent even keeled guy.

"As other players look to him, he exudes that confidence that even if it's not going good at the moment, stick to our fundamentals and we can get better. This is year No. 3 for him in the Big Ten. We need him to be very good.''

"The more he has developed his skill and developed as a player, the more his team has rallied around him,'' Scheelhaase said. "He does look like a leader. They've embraced him and what he's able to do.''

Illinois coach Ron Zook didn't reveal plans on how to slow Pryor.

"He's got much more poise,'' Zook said. "When you got a guy who can run like him, you have to be concerned. You can cover them up on the back, then you have to worry about him taking off and running. Do you rush three, four? I don't know if anybody can spy him. He's got a better grip on everything.''

Pryor's teammates would finally agree.

John Supinie can be reached at Johnsupinie@aol.com.

A look at the Buckeyes

Record: 4-0.
So far: Defeated Marshall 45-7, def. No. 12 Miami 36-24, def. Ohio 43-7, def. Eastern Michigan 73-20.
Coach: Jim Tressel, 98-21 in 10th year at Ohio State, 233-78-2 in 25th year overall.
Players to watch: QB Terrelle Pryor, WR Dane Sanzenbacher, DE Cameron Hayward, LB Ross Homan, MLB Brian Rolle.
Did you know?: Ohio State is one of three major-college programs to record 10 wins or more in each of the last five seasons, joining Virginia Tech and Texas.
Quote: "He's done a very good job in delivering the ball in rhythm. He's got a much greater knowledge of how he can help adjust the pass protection.'' -- Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, on Pryor's improvement in the passing game.